


Chocolate Cherry

by WordMusician



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Before the beach in Doomsday, Canon Compliant, Coping, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Loss, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post the white wall of separation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:24:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22930171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordMusician/pseuds/WordMusician
Summary: Jackie and Rose have a heart to heart.  Both women have a better appreciation for the other and for the relationships they have with other people.
Relationships: Jackie Tyler & Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	Chocolate Cherry

“How did you do it, mum? After dad died, how did you do it?” Rose had finally made it from her bed to the sofa in the family lounge. She sat looking out over the back garden.

Jackie looked down into her cup of tea. Rose’s sat cooling on the side table. “Well, sweetheart, I won’t lie to you, it was terrible. Sometimes I just wanted give up. Your grandma and grandpa Prentice were so good. They’d take you sometimes when it just got to be too much and I’d sit on the sofa with a tub of chocolate cherry and listen to your dad’s favourite tunes. But they never kept you away too long. They always brought you back to remind me that I had somebody else to be thinking about besides myself.” Jackie patted her knee. “You were my world those days.”

Rose grabbed at her mum’s hand. “And you were mine. I didn’t know anything about it back then of course, I was just a baby. But I’ve been sitting here thinking and... you are amazing. I never appreciated it but I do now.”

“We Prentice women are strong.”

“I don’t feel strong.” Rose sniffed. The tears were never far away.

Jackie scooted closer, “I know luv. I know. And there were lots of times I didn’t feel strong back then either. But you’ve got to ask yourself, what would himself want you to do now?”

Rose huffed. “I already know.” She told Jackie about the message the Doctor had left her through the Emergency Protocol One long ago. “But that’s just it, see? I couldn’t do it then. I couldn’t just go have a fantastic life when I knew he was out there dying, saving us all. I had to go back. You saw me, you know that. I had to go back.”

Jackie nodded and wiped at her own tears. She’s seen her distraught but determined daughter fight with the alien ship. She’d even helped her, though she knew she was sending Rose straight back into danger. She’d understood he’d sent her away only because he was trying to save her. If she’d had any doubts before, she’d known then that the Doctor loved her daughter.

“I couldn’t do it then, live in my own universe without him, so how am I supposed to live in this gingerbread one?” 

Jackie put her arm around her. “You’re going to do it because he loves you and he needs you to be happy.”

Rose shook her head, “Mum we weren’t like that.”

Jackie waved a dismissing hand. “I know you and I know love when I see it. I may not know how an alien goes about loving, but a bloke is a bloke. I saw the way he looked at you, like you’d invented bananas.” Rose gave a watery chuckle. His love of banana was legendary. “And I saw how you mooned over him: like he gave you the world, and I suppose in his own alien way, he did.”

Rose blushed but shook her head.

“Rose, sweetheart, never ever doubt he loves you. Maybe you weren’t lovers – “

“Mum!”

“Maybe you weren’t lovers,” Jackie persisted, “But I didn’t see him holding hands and hugging anyone else either. And you didn’t see him that day, sweetheart. You were talking to me, but I could see him over your shoulder. Oh, Rose, if you could have seen his face. I swear it was killing him to send you to safety.”

“But I didn’t want to go! He needs me, mum!”

“And you went right back to him, just as you should, though it broke my heart to see you do it.” Jackie was crying openly now too.

“But I couldn’t stay!” Rose punched the pillow she’d been clutching. “If only I’d made sure the lever was locked into position. And that hateful, stupid Dalek just had to bang into it... I hate them! I hate them all! I hate this! I hate everything!” The abused pillow sailed across the room.

Jackie let Rose vent. The tantrum was better than the near catatonic state she’d been in for days. When she finally subsided, Jackie spoke again. “Rose, I’m sure the Doctor is finding a way to come for you.”

“The walls are closed. You heard him mum, once they were sucked back into the Void, it sealed back up again. It had to if it was going to work.”

“But don’t you think he’ll be poking at the wall, looking for a crack? He’ll find a way.”

Rose chewed her lip. “He sent me away mum.”

“He wanted to save your life. That’s what love does, sweetheart, it makes sacrifices.”

Rose was quiet for a long time. “What should I do now, mum?”

“Whatever you want. You could go back to school, or travel, or volunteer or get a job; whatever you like. And you don’t have to rush into it either. You can stay here and rest and think. It’s a big change for you, luv. We all know that.”

“Do you think Pete’s got any chocolate cherry in the freezer?”

“I’m sure he’s got something,” Jackie smiled softly. “How about I go see what I can find, yeah?”

Rose gave her a watery smile and nodded. If the Doctor was going to find a way to come get her, she didn’t want him to find her a blubbering weak mess. She could use her time to improve herself. Maybe get her A-levels, maybe she could learn to drive, get a job... she wasn’t’ going to put down roots, but she didn’t know how long she would be exiled either. If she could see it as an opportunity to become a better companion and partner, then she could make the Doctor proud.

Rose pushed herself up off the sofa. For the first time in a long time she was able to look past the pain of their separation. She could do this. She would do this…for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Everything is better with ice cream. Chocolate Cherry is not my favourite, but Jackie "told" me it was hers, lol.  
> I'm sure they must have had a few talks after the whole separated by the white wall travesty. And we know from the dialogue on the beach that Rose, being the survivor she is, did manage to get on with her life - at least until the stars started going out. I'm also pretty confident (so I wrote about it) that at least part of her motivation stemmed from a desire to please the Doctor, even if he never learned of it. Maudlin and sappy, but I'm a big ol' romantic.


End file.
